


We Don't Have To Dance

by FireflyHannah



Series: The Shadow Side [2]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Language, Multiple Points of View, Riko's perfect court, Subtle songfic, They're facing their demons, i guess, mentions of violence and abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2018-10-15 11:38:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10555670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireflyHannah/pseuds/FireflyHannah
Summary: 1 is drowning.2 is far from home.3 can't escape.But 4 doesn't have to run anymore.Or the one in which they rant about their lives.





	1. The King of the Court - Riko Moriyama

_He_ was the son of Exy. The future of a bastard sport that was neither one nor the other. Perfect for someone like him, unwanted and unloved by both sides of the family, the reason for his mother’s death. It was a hybrid that became profitable, just like Riko himself had become profitable through Exy. It was the only way in which he would ever be seen by people – family – that tried to forget he existed. He always thought, perhaps, he would be able to win their favour by being the best. He always thought perhaps his family would take him back if he was the best. Even if that meant crippling anyone that threatened his superiority. No. _Especially_ if that meant crippling anyone that threatened his superiority. Those people with more potential were threats. Those people with more potential had to be stopped. Therefore, those people with more potential would become his.

And so, the Perfect Court was born.

And so, Riko’s Perfect Court was born.

They would live and breathe Exy. They would become Exy. They would be identifiable. They would be in the spotlight. They would be winners. They would take the world and their tattooed cheeks would be the only thing separating them. They would be as one, a machine that worked as one. Riko as a control centre, telling the others where to go and how to move. In unison, they would be something beautiful. Tattooed cheeks would show up internationally as Exy spread in popularity. The sons of Exy at the forefront with their backliners at their sides, proving to the world that they were great. They were all that could be great. Riko was all that could be great. His Perfect Court would fail without him.

Number 1. He was the King of Exy. There were none that could outmanoeuvre Riko Moriyama. The Ravens were handpicked from the best, with potential outranking all over Class I teams. And then, the Perfect Court picked by the Moriyama family themselves. They were picked to become unbeatable, in numbers that resonated with their abilities to be the superior players on the court. They were strong, they were fierce, they were deadly. All of these factors contributed to a deadly force on the court. They were the royal court of Exy. Moriyama. Day. Wesninski. Moreau. Of course, this flow had already been ruined by the time Riko discovered the talent that was Moreau. It would’ve been perfect. Their hierarchy would have been perfect.

But no. It was disrupted, by one useless little shit that was Nathaniel Wesninski. And the worst of it, was that he couldn’t even blame Wesninski. It was all his waste-of-space mother’s fault. She’d torn one of Riko’s own from him. He’d never be able to win his family’s favour without his Perfect Court. _She_ had ruined his Perfect Court. And in doing so, she had signed Wesninski’s own death warrant with his father. How troublesome. But at least he’d be out of the way. Ready for Riko’s Perfect Court to continue without the possibility of him getting in the way. At least, he thought so. But of course, fate had different plans, because along came Wesninski. Hair dyed, contact lenses in, and with a new name to match how _plain_ he was.

Josten. Neil. Fucking. Josten.

Nathaniel Wesninski was a thing of the past… Neil Josten had arrived to take his place, bringing with him the same attitude problem he’d had as a child. Taking _his_ place at Kevin’s side, he brought with him a blizzard of media backlash, trying to suffocate Riko into submission with his brash personality and snappy words. He came from nothing, stealing a place as the third top striker in Class I Exy. He stole a place that didn’t belong to him! Josten may have been a striker, but he was also Wesninski, a backliner. He wasn’t even meant to be a striker, and Riko was furious that he’d managed to best him in such a trivial way. How dare he? Neil Josten – Nathaniel Wesninski – would learn just what happened to people who made a fool of the Moriyama family. This was the last time Riko would let him make a fool of him.

And Riko was drowning.

Drowning.

Drowning in the downpour of the media.

No one understood, he knew that much. No one saw Riko behind closed doors. It was a side of him that only Kevin had ever seen, considering they shared their room, had done since they were young, since Kevin had been unofficially adopted into the Moriyama family. And by adopted, they’d taken him in as a charity case. He was nothing more than a pet. Useful only because he was a child of Exy, because he could be taught to live and breathe Exy. He was useless otherwise, and yet, Riko found himself relying on him just as much as Kevin relied on him. It was difficult to explain. People didn’t see that side of it, didn’t see the side of him that loved Kevin. And he did, love Kevin. Like a brother, or a puppy he received for Christmas, perhaps.

And then Kevin surpassed him. Surpassed. Him! And that was a line that had never been crossed before. Riko had always been so careful… Not to break Kevin, but not to allow his full potential to shine. Always to keep him just one step below him. It failed, because the striker managed to surpass him.

That one occurrence created a new side of Riko. A side of him that was a danger to himself. Riko became the hazard that was going to get him into trouble one day.

Kevin was gone… They’d tried to soften the blow when breaking it to Riko. They’d tried so hard to stop him flying off the handle when he found out about his desertion. No. It was too late. Within hours of discovering the only true betrayal Riko could count, he had descended into something akin to obsession. He would get Kevin back. He needed to get Kevin back. Riko had always been renowned as nothing less than royalty. And now, without Kevin, Riko was discovering just what hell was. It was this. This was hell. He was in hell. Kevin had left him to descend alone into the fiery pits of his own demise.


	2. Homecoming Queen - Kevin Day

Kevin had escaped from Riko after the attack. He’d not meant to provoke him, he’d never dream of it! He knew the consequences. He was never one to attack his master’s pride. He’d been under the Moriyama rule since he was a child. He was _conditioned_ to behave in their favour, to make them proud and not embarrass them. He had crossed a line when he did something better than Riko, forced him into second place. He knew it was his fault, he deserved his punishment. He was supposed to be second. Pushing Riko into his own place was unforgivable.

The news of his _skiing accident_ spread through the media like wildfire.

Kevin Day left the Ravens.

Kevin Day joined the Foxes.

The Foxes? Of all teams he could have relocated to? He moved to the Foxes? The team of rejects in Palmetto that couldn’t get along for long enough to finish a single game. He joined them? Why? What could they offer? Not much except one certain goalkeeper. One goalkeeper that had previously told him where to stick his offer and his Exy racquet.

But yes. It was undeniable when released to the press. Kevin Day was a new starting striker for the Palmetto State Foxes. Even after the loss of the use of his left hand, he found himself unable to bear the thought of losing Exy, something that kept him close to his mother. Not only that, it had been something that had kept him sane when the world was against him while Riko forced him to temper himself and never reach his full potential. As assistant coach, he joined them, the Foxes in all their dysfunctional glory. He made friends in Andrew, Nicky and Aaron, and avoided the rest, but perhaps that was okay. He worked around it, and when he was able, he began to practice. With Andrew by his side, he actually felt like he could amount to something. With Andrew at his side, he felt unstoppable. Andrew never made him feel second best. And while he never encouraged his obsession, he never discouraged it either. He was able to play with his father by his side, though he never spoke of it. He’d stolen the letter from Tetsuji Moriyama after all, so even if he hadn’t felt so awkward about it, it would have been a mistake to all but announce he’d discovered something by dangerous means. He didn’t regret that though. He didn’t regret finding out that his father was David Wymack. He was… content to learn about his father in silence, pleased that he could grow close to him. Perhaps he felt some regret over keeping the information from him.

One thing he knew he regretted? He regretted abandoning everything he knew and loved in pursuit of something better. To some, that would seem silly, because widening his prospects should be a good thing and he knew that. But the fact of the matter was that he had been told he’d be part of his old life forever, and then he’d been tossed unceremoniously from that life, tossed into something better without warning, and he wasn’t sure what to _do_ with this new freedom he had. It was strange. He regretted leaving Jean Moreau to face Riko’s wrath alone when he found out about the betrayal. His leaving would’ve tightened the noose threateningly around Jean’s neck as Riko tugged on it like a leash. He regretted that. Regretted leaving Riko with people who wouldn’t try to understand him. They’d never know him like Kevin did… He left Riko to their mercy, just like he left them at Riko’s.

Regret.

Forget.

Addict.

Regret became addiction. A harsh downward spiral that was unavoidable as he forced himself to try and forgive himself for what he blamed himself for. But to do that, he had to fight. He had to hide it. He knew he’d never be able to avoid the pitying stares from people around him if he didn’t. Never be able to avoid Andrew’s piercing, accusing gaze, silently asking questions Andrew didn’t actually care enough about to ask.

The vodka was broken out every night. The sun would set and healthy eating and exy would actually take a back seat to attempts to forget that he knew were unlikely to work. Perhaps the vodka was an inefficient coping mechanism for everything he’d seen. Perhaps it was simply something to help him learn to live with the regret he experienced. It didn’t matter the reason. Not anymore. Vodka was a staple part of Kevin’s diet. He couldn’t work through his emotions with the Foxes. While they were understanding, they would never accept his reasoning for this. They could never truly understand something that was so much bigger than them, bigger than Kevin. Bigger than anything he’d ever experienced, and he was scared! Scared because no one would understand what Riko meant to him. Scared because he was alone in this, and no one would ever be able to understand why he seemed to resent his new found freedom he was so clearly enjoying. No one could understand having such a deep love for someone who physically, emotionally, in any way he could, abused him to the point of being driven away. Aaron perhaps? Considering his past? But fuck if Kevin was going to talk to him about it. He liked Aaron, sure, but only when Aaron wasn’t skulking around and just generally ruining everyone else’s day. Andrew? Kevin wouldn’t talk to Andrew if his life depended on it. Not about this. Not about something he knew that Andrew wouldn’t give two shits about. Andrew’s goal and Kevin’s distress were conflicting. Andrew wanted to keep him away from Riko, even emotionally if he could. The newbie, Neil wouldn’t get it, either. Heck, even after finding out just who Neil was, Kevin was sure he’d never spent enough time as a single person to understand. He’d never really been allowed to get close to someone. Besides, if anyone _hated_ Riko Moriyama, it was Neil Josten. If he was still on good terms with Jean, perhaps it wouldn’t have been much of a problem. Because he _knew_ Jean would understand. He would understand. He wouldn’t hate him for how he felt! Within Riko’s biased hierarchy, they held different ranks, but he’d know. Jean had seen the good and the bad. He’d know. He’d understand.

But he was so far from the Ravens.

He was so far from home.

He was so exhausted by running.

He was in the spotlight. He had been since he was a child. Since his mother died and he was _adopted_ by the Moriyamas. He lived and breathed Exy from that moment. Just like Riko. He was a clone of Riko. Something that replicated the original but never reached the standards lay out for him. Until he did. He heard the rumours when he left the Ravens. Asking about him. Did Kevin leave to pursue the short goalkeeper that let them down? Or was there something else that made him leave after the skiing trip? Everyone had eyes on him. Everyone spoke about him. Cameras and whispers haunted his waking moments for the longest time, and he was hiding for a long time after he left the Ravens to avoid the reality which he’d been dealt. It wasn’t fair and it certainly wasn’t something which he was eager to deal with so soon. The media had the wrong idea about him. They seemed to think he was someone very similar to Riko. But it just wasn’t true. He’d been forced to be like Riko. Exy became his escape as well as his life. They thought he was someone other than what he was, and when he moved to the Foxes, he escaped that image. They didn’t expect him to be a mini (or rather – larger) version of Riko. They didn’t expect him to be like that. They got to know him. They complained about his obsession with Exy, but ultimately, they were his family. Having grown up with a _very_ skewed view of siblinghood, he was rather thrilled to have a true feeling of belonging now. He’d been in hell. Literal, burning, torturous hell. But he escaped. He was free. It wasn’t hell anymore. And he regretted not finding heaven sooner.


	3. The Court Jester - Jean Moreau

Not for the first time, Jean dealt with his abandonment with alcohol. He had long since kicked the habit for the first time when his family sold him to the Moriyama family to pay off their debts. Riko had seen to it that his backliner would not be in a constant state of inebriation. And now, history would repeat itself. Drinking numbed the pain. It helped him forget what was done to him and what he had been made to do at any given time. It wasn’t often that he was given the relief he sought, Riko preferred them all stone-cold sober, ready for the next test he ran them through. Whether that test was violence or training, whichever came first. That was usually a product of Riko’s mood at the time he decided what to do. Now Kevin was gone, Riko’s mood was more volatile than ever. It was hard to keep track of Riko’s moods now. If he wasn’t displaying excessive amounts of violence, he was training Jean into the ground, and if he wasn’t doing that, he was sulking and staring at Kevin’s side of the room. It was rather disconcerting, honestly. No one knew exactly what Riko was capable of. Not everyone knew Riko broke Kevin’s hand, not everyone knew of the severe threat looming over him. Silent, stalking, severe. One screw up could cost him his hand, but more likely, it would cost him his life.

He remembered the night he had felt that threat hit him for the first time. He knew he belonged to Riko, but it wasn’t until he broke Kevin’s hand that he _truly_ realised just how little his life meant to him. He wasn’t a sibling or even a pet, like Kevin. He was a possession, a slave, perhaps. But it was only when Kevin betrayed them that he realised. He remembered. He found out first, in the form of a bottle of vodka and a text. _I’m sorry._ Where the fuck were those apologies now? He remembered the broken sob that was soon followed by the drowning of his sorrows in the alcohol, Kevin’s favourite alcohol. They’d meant to escape… together… Riko soon found out, and then found Jean. Jean, who should’ve stopped Kevin. Jean, who was meant to be sober. Jean, who was not meant to be the one upset right now.

The bottle, half empty had been smashed over his head, but Jean was already far gone enough that he barely noticed. He hardly noticed his shirt being ripped open. He hardly noticed the glass cutting into his skin. But it didn’t stop Riko. And if Jean was only just aware of it then, he was even more aware in the morning. But it didn’t stop there… Not at all. It would never stop. The slightest thing could set Riko off, and Jean would pay. And yet… Maybe it was something akin to Stockholm syndrome, or the fact that Riko was the only constant in his life. He couldn’t help but sympathise with him. He was too fucking nice for this team. Even though he was a buffer for Riko’s rage, and all he could do was raise his hands in surrender. Even though he refused to plead for mercy he did not deserve and would not be granted because he disobeyed his masters… Even then, could he fall asleep with Riko clinging to him. And it was a side of Riko he’d never seen when Kevin was there…

Vulnerable.

Riko had loved Kevin. It was only now that Jean realised that. Only now that he was some sort of replacement that wasn’t good enough, wasn’t Kevin. He paid the price simply for not being _Kevin._ And yet he was trapped with Riko. He couldn’t escape. And he didn’t always want to. It was the one thing that was a constant. And Jean was falling into a trap that he knew he wouldn’t escape. He held Riko. He let him curl up when he sought comfort, and he kneeled for him when he demanded payment for letting Jean see him like that. Jean did not deserve mercy. He did not want mercy.

That said, he still wasn’t a fan of the pain or the aftercare of his injuries. He wasn’t happy about it. It wasn’t Riko he found himself resenting… Kevin’s betrayal had been a catalyst of epic proportions. He tried… He tried to understand why Kevin had done it. But when the noose around his neck was a snake – a _King_ cobra – whispering the vitriol about how Kevin no longer loved them, about how Kevin left because he hated them, because his patience wore thin. When that was his reality, it definitely blurred his understanding. He wished he could understand. But he couldn’t. He could not work out what had made Kevin go. Deep down, he knew that it was as simple as Riko’s violence, the destruction of his hand being the final straw, but he just couldn’t bring himself to remember that. He _resented_ Kevin at times. He hated him at times. Jealous. So jealous because Kevin had an escape. Family that would take him in, that Jean didn’t have.

_“You have me…”_

The voice would whisper in his ear, settle in his brain and play on loop.

_“I’ll never leave you like Kevin did. And you won’t leave me either, will you, Jean?”_

He’d never leave him. Not like he had a choice. Kevin had that choice. Kevin had someone extending a hand and not expecting him to take every step. They met him halfway. Ridiculous. Kevin was a Raven. Not an orphan _Fox_ to be adopted by some reject goalkeeper who was drugged to high fucking heaven.

Even so, with Kevin gone and a loveless friendship with Riko, Jean could find the positives. And there were… Positives. When he wasn’t being pushed to the limit with training. When he wasn’t being beaten for simply existing. Jean could look deeper. Jean could see the good things about Riko. The things only Kevin had witnessed before now. Riko was dedicated, for example. Not just to Exy. But now he was gone, the dedication to Kevin was more pronounced than ever. Riko was lost without him. He’d never admit that he missed the vile traitor, of course. But for Jean, it was so easy to see. He knew. Perhaps that was another reason he couldn’t hold it against Riko.

It was toxic… It was toxic and bitter, like some sort of gasoline that coated their relationship. But Jean found joy in all he knew.

Jean found his joy in a poisonous situation he could not escape, that he wasn’t sure he wanted to escape, all the time.

But perhaps he didn’t want to anymore.

He didn’t expect anyone to understand what he went through. He couldn’t expect anyone to understand his complex emotions towards Riko. Jean kept himself in this position. He was the hazard people had warned him about. He couldn’t help it. He would yield under Riko. He would give him anything. Keeping him happy was safe. Horrifically safe… This wasn’t safe, perhaps… But he didn’t care. He couldn’t care. Seeing him happy was safe, and seeing him smile was a reward. Jean liked that smile. He hated himself for that. But he liked the lost smile of someone far more innocent than himself. If this was hell… If those smiles were a taste of Hell… Then Jean wasn’t sure Heaven was where he wanted to go anymore.


End file.
